Does today’s youth see in black and white: where does xenophobia come from?

https://www.tttdebates.org/assets/Thumb326-4.png326326Time To TalkTime To Talkhttps://www.tttdebates.org/assets/Thumb326-4.png03/10/201216/02/2018

On the 3rd October 2012, Agora presented a debate which looked at xenophobia in the Czech Republic, with a specific focus on the younger generation of Czechs.

About the debate:

This was an educational debate for the students in attendance, which featured the following speakers:

Ivan Gabal – Sociologist

Peter Klinger – Manager of Social Integration for People in Need

Alena Hesová – Civic Education and Multicultural Education Trainer at the National Institute for Education

Margaret Pastorová – Civic Education and Multicultural Education Trainer at the National Institute for Education

Jan Balog – Founder of the civic association Palestra Box Club, which offers meaningful leisure time to children from socially disadvantaged families.

The discussion also had the good fortune to be able to hear from Lucie Gissyová, who teaches civics and social sciences at the Business Academy in Usti nad Labem, and Alena Chudžíková of the Centre for the Research of Ethnicity and Culture.

Yet, the students from Usti nad Labem, Most and Litoměřice didn’t just leave the discussion up to the speakers. Right from the start, they made it clear that they wanted to be involved. The students were not afraid to state their opinions, but they were also attentive and listened carefully to the responses to their questions and to all the information from the speakers and their moderator, Jarmila Balazova.

The debate was quite lively and the students got clear guidance or solutions regarding optimal co-existence with the majority of the Roma minority. Everyone learned new information about the complexity of the problem and it became obvious that it is not a situation with any one clear and simple solution. The students, however, remained interested and enquired about what they themselves could do to improve the situation. Some wanted to find opportunities to participate as volunteers, for example, several offered Peter Klinger from People in Need their assistance. Debate ensued on how to better understand the situation and where to seek guidance for resolving the pressing problems it threw up. It was therefore not just possible, but also necessary that the debate was ultimately extended into a discussion of more than two hours. However, this was only a first attempt to revive an interest in the problems of xenophobia and issues relating to our coexistence with the Roma minority amongst young people in mainstream society, an attempt to think about a situation which is far from black and white and which will ultimately need to be discussed further.

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